Shinigami of the Void
by pyroman315
Summary: What would happen if Ichigo's powers began manifesting earlier in his life, when he was still just a kid, forcing Isshin, Kisuke, and Yoruichi to star training him at a young age? What would happen if he had a different zanpakuto, and not Zangetsu? Read and find out!


_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN BLEACH**_

 _ **Alrighty, let's try this story again. I've made edits to this story, an those of you who read this back before I deleted the initial version may recognize the fact that this does not go anywhere near as the initial first chapter did. That is because I'm trying to break it up so it will be more manageable for people to read.**_

 _ **And with THAT, LET THE STORY BEGIN!**_

Ichigo Kurosaki silently laid on his bed, with his eyes closed, his fingers laced behind his head as he relaxed. He was lying there while he waited for his father to contact him, and tell him to report to the underground training area for his daily training. He was bored, and he knew he'd need the energy for the training that was in store for him, so he figured, why not rest now? It only made sense to him.

As he laid there, his mind began to wander, back to the first time he trained with his father. To say that he was surprised when he first learned that his father was a shinigami was an understatement of titanic proportions. His training began years ago, around two months after his mother had died, give or take a few weeks. He had been young, it wasn't a surprise that he wasn't certain of the exact date.

His father or Yoruichi would be much more likely to remember when exactly it had been. If the two of THEM did not know the actual date, then he knew Kisuke would remember. The blonde haired man may act like a fool, but he had certainly earned his title of a genius. The man had a mind like a steel trap when it came to important information. He had to. It didn't really matter to Ichigo though. The date didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was the fact that it had happened.

He had been 8 years old. He was talking to the soul of an old man, as he commonly did, when he heard a strange noise. He looked around, noticing a black line around twenty feet up into the air. Ichigo raised an eyebrow, but due to the fact that the boy had literally just been speaking with the soul of a dead man, a line in the sky wasn't too freaky.

Things got strange after that though. A large amount of pressure slammed down onto him, and it felt like everything was shaking. He struggled to breathe, and it seemed like the spirit of the old man was having trouble as well.

Ichigo was helpless as the line in the sky slowly opened up, revealing an inky black nothingness. Even for Ichigo, this was terrifying, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't run. It was like he was in a nightmare. He couldn't do anything, except stand there, his legs shaking like he was a newborn deer.

A strange creature appeared in the hole, and Ichigo nearly pissed himself. The creature, from what he could see, and that wasn't much, considering hole wasn't large enough for the whole creature to be seen, was massive. He had no idea how large it truly was, but it was certainly larger than any human being.

It wasn't like he needed to see how large the creature was to know that it wasn't human though, It was wearing what appeared to be a white, porcelain mask, and a black cloak, with white spikes coming out of it, around where the shoulders would be on a human.

Much to Ichigo's confusion, the large creature wasn't attempting to go through the hole. Instead, it moved to the side, allowing a new figure to move forward. This figure was much smaller, a good amount larger than the average human still, but nowhere near the size of the first creature. This creature did come through the hole, and as it did, the hole closed.

The creature landed on its feet, and as it did, the ground cracked and formed a crater under him. The creature had red markings on its mask, but Ichigo didn't look at it long enough to see anything else. Instead, he closed his eyes tightly, and he screamed inside his head, ' _Someone! Anyone! Please, help me!"_

Ichigo cringed as he heard the spirit of the old man scream, and he heard strange, crunching noises, which Ichigo refused to think about. He heard loud, heavy footsteps approaching him, and he continued to tremble, tears slowly starting to trickle down his cheeks, thinking that he was done for.

He didn't feel the touch of the creature though. Instead, he heard something fly through the air, and he heard a noise that sounded like something being cut. He also felt the pressure that had been pushing down on him vanish. Finally,he felt a warm liquid splatter onto him, and he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes shot wide open as he saw a man standing just a few feet in front of him. The man was wearing a dark coat, which had a white diamond pattern along its bottom half. The man also had a white and green bucket hat on his head, and a pair of traditional wooden geta on his feet. The man also had a sword in his hand, but Ichigo couldn't see much more than that, considering the man's back was to him.

Ichigo slowly looked past the man, and his eyes widened as he saw the large creature had a massive gash across its chest, which accounted for the warm liquid which splashed Ichigo. As Ichigo again looked at the man, he noticed that there was blood dripping from the man's sword. " _He…. he cut that thing? Who is he?"_

The man pulled the front of his bucket hat down, so it shadowed his eyes, and he spoke softly, just loud enough for the creature and Ichigo to hear, "I must be getting rusty if that strike failed to kill you. It doesn't matter I suppose." He glanced up at the creature, and he spoke again, in a voice that sounded playful, yet also slightly mocking, "I'll give you a choice there Mr. Hollow. If you flee now, and I won't kill you. I got here before you hurt Ichigo-Kun, so I suppose I can be merciful. I'm not a fan of killing unless I have to after all."

Ichigo's eyes widened again, and he thought to himself, " _Wait, what? He's…. Letting that thing go? He isn't going to kill it? Why?"_ Another thought struck Ichigo as he stared at the new man, " _Wait, he knows my name! How does he know my name? Who is he?"_

The creature growled, and he began to take a step forward, but he stopped midway through the step, and he looked down at his chest, and he appeared to be thinking twice about attacking this man. He growled again, but he stepped back, and a golden light shined down on him as the hole again opened, and the creature was pulled back through the hole.

The man with the sword sighed, as he swished his sword through the air, causing the blood on it to fly off, and splatter onto the pavement. He then sheathed his sword, before turning around, and speaking to Ichigo, "Hello there young man, are you unharmed?" He smiled at the young boy with orange hair, waiting for a response.

Ichigo slowly opened his mouth to answer, before his eyes rolled back into his head, and he went limp, passing out. The man darted forward, catching Ichigo before the young man could hit the pavement, and he sighed, again pulling on his bucket hat so it shadowed his eyes, "I suppose the spiritual pressure was too much for him. I'm not surprised, that Adjucha was easily as strong as a lieutenant of the Gotei 13. I'm more surprised by the fact that he didn't pass out sooner."

The man turned to look in a seemingly random direction, and he sighed once a again, "Isshin…. we're going to have to speak to Ichigo about the truth. His reiryoku is growing rapidly. It's already enough to attract the attention of hollows. He's lucky he wasn't too far from the shop. If he wasn't close enough for Yoruichi and I to sense the arrival of the hollow, he would have been undoubtedly consumed."

Before too much time had passed, Ichigo awoke, only to find himself in an unfamiliar room. He looked around, naturally worried, only to catch sight of a cat lying on the table, staring at him with golden eyes.

Ichigo blinked, opening his mouth to speak, only for the CAT to speak first, "Don't bother asking right now. Just wait a few minutes. Kisuke went to go get someone. Once they return, your questions will be answered." Ichigo numbly nodded, not really having any other options. As he waited, he thought to himself, " _Kisuke? Is that the man who saved me?"_

Five minutes later, give a few minutes either way, Ichigo heard the sound of two people approaching the room he and the purple haired woman were in. Ichigo blinked, listening to the footsteps. " _Those footsteps…. The sound familiar…. Is that…. Dad?"_ The door to the room slid open, and Ichigo found his mental question hit the mark, as the man who saved him walked in, followed by Ichigo's father. Ichigo's mouth dropped open, having no idea what was going on.

Ichigo's father stood next to the other two adults in the room, and he sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm sure you have a ton of questions, Just listen, and if you still have any questions, ask them once I'm done, and I'll answer them. Keeping secrets from you would only hurt you at this point."

Fifteen minutes later, Ichigo was seriously wondering if this was all some sort of freaky dream. Apparently his father was a shinigami, that cat was actually a woman, souls could become monsters called hollows, and one of those hollows had killed his mother. Ichigo slowly shook his head, in awe, and unable to take it all in this quickly.

Isshin sighed, and he put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Ichigo, I'm sorry, but we aren't done yet. Your reiryoku is growing as you grow older, and exposure to the reiryoku of hollows is causing your body to try to defend itself. It's tapping into your potential, and forcing your powers to begin to grow and manifest sooner than they would if the grew naturally."

Ichigo look concerned, as he realized what this would mean. According to what Urahara and his father had told him, the more his reiryoku grew, the more hollows would try to consume him. "What do I do? Is there anything that can hide my reiryoku?"

Urahara nodded slightly, but he didn't look happy. "There is, but it wouldn't help you. You don't have the control needed to use the cloak, and that would only be a temporary fix. You wouldn't be able to use the cloak all the time. We need to teach you to be able to defend yourself."

After a brief talk, Ichigo sat there, pale as a sheet of paper. Encroachment? He could get shinigami powers, by putting his life on the line? If he successfully went through the process, he would be able to wield powers, but if he failed….. He'd become a hollow?

 _ **Yeah yeah, I'm an asshole for cutting it off at this point, bite me. I'll try to upload a chapter every week or two, but it may be hard, what with college and all. Until next time, I bid you all, adieu!**_


End file.
